henrik’s claymation party part two

Henrik’s claymation Birthday party was really low key this year. I didn’t stress about anything and did most of the prep work the night before. I think often times we (or I) can get caught up with everything looking just right, when children don’t really care. What’s most important to them is that they are happy and have a good time.

A couple of days before the party Henrik’s dad baked him a cake for the party. For whatever reason the cake wouldn’t come out of the cake form and we only had half a cake. I then decided to make a cake from scratch with a special chocolate frosting. I didn’t calculate for the altitude and it was as flat as a pancake. So, the morning of the party Nick went out and bought Henrik a cake. The kids didn’t know the difference and loved how tall it was.

Instead of giving out party favors in bags to the kids on the way out, we put the prizes on the cake, and the children had to spin for their piece of cake as well as their prize. I made the spinner with a part of Henrik’s lego helicopter and a handmade arrow. This was a tradition we did as children growing up and I loved it. The kids thought this was so much fun and couldn’t wait till it was their turn.

Henrik has been working on this lanky grey clay fella for a while, and I thought he was a nice addition to our claymation party.

We set up a mini claymation set in the other room, so that the kids could help animate their own movie. But we soon discovered that they weren’t that interested in making a movie and would rather run around playing with each other and their new clay figures. So, Nick ended up “helping” them make a group claymation movie.

Maja enjoyed eating the different variety of cakes. And even though the first cake didn’t look good, it sure tasted good.

This little guy had so much fun playing with all the new toys and Maja was happy to show him how they all worked.

In years past this party would have been a huge stress on me and I would have viewed it as a bit of a failure. Which is odd, because although the cakes were ruined and the set didn’t turn out how I had envisioned it, the kids had a wonderful time! But, what I’ve learned this year through my loss, is that all those little things that we worry so much about don’t really matter. What’s most important is if we’re happy and healthy and alive. I find myself now hardly phased by much of the day to day stresses at all. I guess sometimes it takes losing what you love and hold most dear to gain greater peace and know what’s most important.

To see part one of Henrik’s birthday party click here, or his 6th birthday here.

Comments

I am very sorry for your loss. We lost our third child, a baby boy, at 38 weeks last month. You are right how all those little things we worry about don’t matter so much. You have a great perspective. I enjoyed reading your thoughts.